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 Swim
Comments: I seeded myself towards the front of the 1:10-1:20 group. Had solid swim but with low visibility was hard to draft. Also, the course curves a bit so following the buoys was probably a bit longer than straight line. I felt comfortable and relaxed the entire swim. Temp was fine and never had too much issues. There was definitely heavy traffic at the start and around buoys. Was hit and kicked a few times. But nothing too crazy. I have gotten much more comfortable swimming in crowds. was satisfied with time. could have probably pushed a bit harder but that would have only gotten me a min or two. What would you do differently?: Take a straighter line alone the wall and then to the end buoy.  Transition 1
Comments: wetsuit strippers are great. run to change area is couple hundred yards. sat down outside vs. going into tent. I wore arm sleeves under my wetsuit . This made it easier to pull the sleeves from my Tri Suit on, which was rolled down during swim. Took a min to dry and clean feet and put on socks. What would you do differently?: not much  Bike
Comments: First loop was just fine. Stayed in control and kept watts right on goal of 170, which was 70%. Felt fine the whole loop. Took water almost every aide station just to be sure. I only carry one water on bike plus my Infinit. Was drinking fuel every 15 min according to plan and had gel at the halfway point of each loop. That would get me to right about 350 calories per hour. I saw my wife at our meeting spot making the turn for beginning of second loop. It started to rain on second loop. Not too heavy and sort of off and on for a while. It was more of a mental issue and caused me to loose a little momentum. I slowed down a bit on watts, about 168 for lap 2. My time on lap 1 was 1:46 and lap 2 dropped to 1:50. By the 3rd lap it was raining a bit harder and steadier. But I was in a much better place mentally. Was actually enjoying it now. I picked up the pace a bunch and managed to hold about 172 watts. Wind was tailing now going out so speeds picked up quite a bit. Managed to do that lap in 1:44 and felt very comfortable. Goal for bike was 5:20, so just off goal. What would you do differently?: Maybe pick up pace on 2nd lap and easy off 3rd. Transition 2
Comments: perfect transition. volunteer helped me with my shoes and socks and took off wet arm warmers. What would you do differently?: not much  Run
Comments: This is where the issues began to arise. I felt a little tightness in my left knee coming out of transition. Assumed it was just from long bike in cold and rain. Thought it would loosen up as I ran. Goal was to start first 3-4 miles at 8:40 pace then look to push to 8:30 and if feeling good do between 8:20-8:25. Was hoping for below 3:50 or if everything really felt good, 3:45. Well after a few miles, I knew there was an issue in knee. Never had a problem in the left knee before. It was right where the IT band connects to bone. Kept pacing until mile 10 but the pain was severe. To add to it, rain was heavy from mile 1 thru 10. But other than some mud and puddles, it didn't bother me too much. I knew I would finish before it got too cold and dark Next couple miles were stop and start, jog a little, limp a little, hop a little, skip a little. Basically anything to take pressure off knee but nothing seemed to work. Pace slowed to about 10 per mile. At 13.1 mark I stopped at med tent and chewed a few Advil hoping it would bring some relief. Helped a little but still managed only 11-12 min miles. a bunch of walking in between painful jogs. Was very frustrating knowing that I had the fitness to run but pain was holding me back. Goals were updated to just finish. I honestly didn't have a clue about my current time. Once I to mile 25, I was able to finish pretty strong and jogged most of the last mile. Felt great finishing knowing how hard it was to push thru the pain. I will have other opportunities to hit my goal times. This was just about making the best of the situation. Take what the day gives you. What would you do differently?: Not much considering the issues. Post race
Warm down: walked around for a bit to loosen up then looked for my wife. Turns out from the video she took of me coming down the chute, I almost hi fived her without seeing her. Met up after a few minutes and shared a very emotional moment. She and my kids have sacrificed this year to help me achieve this goal and I really appreciated their support. Turns out while I was racing, she went back to car to get umbrella. Found that the battery was dead. So she dealt with AAA and got battery replaced while I raced. What a true champ. We hit up local bar for pizza and a couple beers. What a great end to the day. A huge shout out to everyone that helped me along the way this year: my family for dealing with my crazy schedule, my coach, James Kelley, for putting together an amazing training plan this year, Golden Rd Aquatics, could not have gotten faster in the water without them. What limited your ability to perform faster: Injury to knee Event comments: I have to say, WTC really puts on a quality event. Everything is well run and organized. The volunteers were super helpful and the residents of Tempe came out in big numbers even in horrible weather conditions. I thanked as many of them as I could along the way. Without them, this race would not be the same. Cannot wait to come back in 2016 Last updated: 2015-11-18 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
64F / 18C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 366/2370
Age Group = M45-49
Age Group Rank = 53/330
Drove in to Tempe on Thur and wife flew in the next day. Was able to register on Thur and sign up for 2016 without dealing with crowds. Bought some merch and then relaxed the rest of the day. Woke up Friday, did short bike to check everything out and 4 mile run along the river. Was beautiful day. Picked up wife from airport and huge around the village. Met friends for early dinner and got rest. Sat morning got quick massage, had breakfast with friend, then headed to practice swim. The allowed competitors to swim the first 500 yards of the course and then loop back. Water was brisk but not too bad, 63 degrees. Very murky, so couldn't really find feet in front. I thought I went pretty easy but was 1:36 per 100 yards over 100 yards. I planned on going a little bit easier on race day. Stayed off feet for rest of the day. Had pasta lunch with friends and watched Kona coverage. Race day I woke up at 3:15a and had normal breakfast of whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, banana, protein bar and coffee. Did my business then rested for another hour. Woke up wife and headed down to race at 5a. Got to village early enough to get spot across the street.
This was my first 140.3 and I was a bit stressed. Went to set up bike and could not get PM working. Realized it was probably a dead battery so went to bike tech. after waiting in line for 10 min, was informed that they don't have any. Looking in my flat kit and low and behold, I must have put one in there at some point. Nice win. Was 20 min of stress but less time to thing about race. Got everything set up and did some dynamic stretching since we were not allowed in water. Got wetsuit on and hung out with wife until time to line up for swim.